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The UK was the most active country for M&A in the European Union in February, new research has found.

The study by Zephyr shows there were 328 UK deals last month, a fall of 4 per cent on January but still 224 more than its nearest rival, France.

While UK deal volumes were much higher than European counterparts, the total deal value in the UK was second to the Netherlands' which was €11.9 billion. However, this figure is distorted by the €7.9 billion acquisition of Dutch telecoms group Celtel International by Bharti Airtel.

The research also reveals that the total number of M&A deals in the EU slipped for the second consecutive month. There were 1,178 deals in February, a decline of 15 per cent on the previous month, and a drop of 32 per cent on December 2009. In addition, the total value of deals fell by 31 per cent on the previous month to €40.2 billion (£36.5 billion), the lowest monthly figure since August.

Private equity also suffered. The research indicates that there were 134 private equity deals with a combined value of €3.5 billion in February, a fall of 19 per cent and 14 per cent respectively.

However, big ticket deals in the UK continue to buck the trend including the £257 million acquisition of LGC by Bridgepoint as well as the £185 million management buy-out of eSure Insurance backed by Penta Capital.

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